Turn Away From The Way You See Yourself

Written by Anthony Meindl

That is, unless you see yourself as the amazing, empowering, sexy, dynamic creator that you are.

And we rarely do.

Why?

Because we don’t see ourselves through a clear lens.

When I was in my 20’s I would tell myself I was stupid. I looked forward to the day when I would stop beating myself up, and have a new way of looking at myself, which I thought would occur in a few years.

I thought I’d outgrow my destructive thoughts once I was little older or more successful or more accomplished or more physically fit.

By my mid 20′s, calling myself “stupid” was replaced by my saying I was unattractive. By 30, I was a failure. Read more

Q&A: Stephen Lang Talks Acting, ‘In Plain Sight’ and How He’d Love To Do A Comedy

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:36 — 12.8MB)

I think Stephen Lang is one of the best character actors around and l will watch him in anything. As I told him in the Q & A below, anytime he’s on screen, he is just immensely watchable.

I was in a film, Gods and Generals with Stephen a while back and I was lucky enough to have a scene with him – we even spent some time together in the makeup trailer. He was in character as ‘Stonewall’ Jackson the whole time and let me tell you, he was intimidating. But as Jackson, he had to be. Acting with him was as good as it gets and just that short time we were filming, I learned a ton. 

He’s currently guest-starring on the USA Network’s In Plain Sight as James Wiley Shannon, Mary Shannon’s (star Mary McCormack) father and he was happy not to have a green screen behind him. He even joked that the first thing he did when he showed up on set was tell the crew, “Excuse me, where’s the green screen? I can’t work without a grain screen.”

In this Q & A, Stephen talks about his work on In Plain Sight, how theater helps with green screen work and his advice to actors.

In Plain Sight airs on Fridays at 10/9c on the USA Network Read more

Trailer: Judd Apatow’s ‘This is 40′ starring Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Megan Fox, John Lithgow, Melissa McCarthy, Robert Smigel, Albert Brooks & Jason Segel

This is 40: Writer/director/producer Judd Apatow (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Funny People) brings audiences This Is 40, an original comedy that expands upon the story of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann) from the blockbuster hit Knocked Up as we see firsthand how they are dealing with their current state of life.

Writer/Director: Judd Apatow
Cast: Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann, Megan Fox, John Lithgow, Iris Apatow, Maude Apatow, Melissa McCarthy, Robert Smigel, Charlene Yi, Albert Brooks, Jason Segel

In theaters: December 21st Read more

Lilla Crawford to Star as ‘Annie’ in New Broadway Production

After a nine month, coast-to-coast search that had over 5,000 auditions, the new Broadway production of Annie has found it’s Annie.

Eleven-year-old Lilla Crawford will play the title role in the musical that will open in fall 2012 at a Nederlander theatre to be announced.

“Oh, my gosh, it happened! My heart just stopped,” said Crawford, when she heard the news. “I thought it would be so cool just to be a part of Annie, but to actually be playing Annie is a dream come true!”

Crawford made her Broadway debut in 2011, playing Debbie in the closing cast of Billy Elliot on Broadway. She was featured in a workshop production of Craig Wright’s Melissa Arctic. She has also performed in 14 shows with YADA (Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts) in her native Los Angeles. Read more

Review: ‘The Raven.’ Nevermore. Please, Nevermore

The Raven, James McTeigue‘s fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allen Poe’s life, is a complete snooze-fest.

Starring John Cusack as the doomed writer, Luke Evans, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson and Oliver Jackson-Cohen, the film has Poe and Detective Emmit Fields (Evans) pursuing a serial killer who is mirroring the murders Poe has written in his previous stories. From the Pit and the Pendelum and The Tell-Tale Heartand, Poe’s gruesome mind has spawned a groupie all too willing make them come to life. When the killer makes Poe’s love (Alice Eve) his next target, the two do everything they can not to make her the next victim.

The look of the film is pretty great, the costumes and sets are all circa 1849 but unfortunately, that’s where it stops and that’s where the main problem of the film starts. The entire cast – minus Evans and Gleeson – feel and sounds like they stepped off the streets of 2012. They came to set, put on some costumes and went to work. This is supposed to be set in 1849 and the entire cast sounds like you or I would today. Yes, even Cusack. What the hell were they thinking? Evans and Gleeson at times seem like they are in another film – the right film – in the way they carry themselves, their mannierisms, the way they sound and act. You know, like they’re in 1849 Baltimore. Read more

Trailer: ‘Hope Springs’ starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell & Elizabeth Shue

Hope Springs: After 30 years of marriage, Maeve Soames (Meryl Streep) decides her marriage needs to be spruced up. When she hears that the famous relationship guru Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell) is in town, she convinces her husband Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones) to go for a week of intense marriage therapy.

Director: David Frankel
Starring: Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell, Elizabeth Shue, Jean Smart

In Theaters: August 10th Read more

Trailer: ‘Hick’ starring Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne & Alec Baldwin

Hick: Tired of fending for herself and her mother‟s penchant for hard-drinking men and barroom drama, 13-year-old Luli hits the road on her own, heading west to realize her dream of becoming a superstar. Among her travels she meets Eddie, a drifter with a chip on his shoulder, and Glenda, a troubled but spirited woman who takes Luli under her wing. Luli‟s quick wit, some help from Glenda, the mercurial Eddie, and her colourful daydreams help protect her from the incredibly unpredictable band of characters she encounters on her journey. Hick is a road picture about a young girl who comes face-to-face with the realities of just how complicated adulthood can be.

Director: Derick Martini
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, Alec Baldwin, Juliette Lewis and Rory Culkin

In Theaters (Limited Release): May 11th Read more

Watch: The Opening Scene of Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘The Dictator’

Everything I’ve seen of Sacha Baron Cohen‘s new film, The Dictator, has been just blah for me. Semi-amusing at best but with the release of this opening scene, I can at least say that it gave me a couple laughs.

The film opens May 16th.

Check it out below! Read more

The Power of Persistence

Written by Amy Lyndon

Well, pilot season’s pretty much over.

Upfronts (where networks officially announce their 2012 lineup) are gearing up, and so the 2012 pilot season is winding down. I’ve talked to a lot of actors and the response I usually get is that it was a quiet year. Yeah, there’s that one friend who always had 5 auditions a day, but for the most part, many actors have found themselves with slim pickings. Naturally, this is the time of year when the largest exodus of actors head back to “the Midwest” or “East” or wherever.

How about you?

My belief is that if you’re taking the time to read another article, then my guess is you’re not packing it in and we want to congratulate you. You’re persistent, and persistence is what separates the haves and the have-nots in Hollywood. In fact, let’s talk some more about power of persistence. Read more

Trailer: ‘Lawless’ starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman & Mia Wasikowska

This. Looks. Good.

Lawless is the true story of the infamous Bondurant Brothers: bootlegging siblings who made a run for the American Dream in Prohibition-era Virginia. In this epic gangster tale, inspired by true-life tales of author Matt Bondurant’s family in his novel “The Wettest County in the World”, the loyalty of three brothers is put to the test against the backdrop of the nation’s most notorious crime wave.

Director: John Hillcoat

Cast: Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, Dane DeHaan

Writers: Nick Cave, Matt Bondurant

In theaters: August 31st Read more

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